


Dancing for Your Life

by Rivieri



Category: One Piece
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Pirates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:49:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26398957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivieri/pseuds/Rivieri
Relationships: Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/Dracule Mihawk/Original Character(s), Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/Original Female Character(s), Dracule Mihawk/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

Bright crimson hair fluttered around a yellow-eyed girl as she mimicked the dancers she was currently watching. She smiled happily as she smoothly followed their movements, proud that her secret practicing that she was able to do it like the pretty women. She did this whenever an entertainment troupe visited her small home island in South Blue for a show at the marine headquarters. Just like the last troupe, she hid, practicing what the lead dancer was doing, completely entranced. The women had been practicing for hours, the small girl right along with them and she would continue far into the night when they would stop. 

  


Her feet would bleed, but she was used to it because she loved to dance. It helped that she could only feel a dull ache from her feet unlike when she first started, where she barely could walk the next few days. She would have to tell her brother and his friend that she had tripped when she was exploring the woods. If they found out she was sneaking away to learn to dance, they would make fun of her.

  


She slowly closed her eyes, trying to do the routine from memory. She let her arms and legs flow with ease, going with the song they were playing for their practice. Blocking out everything around her other than the music, she let it take her into her own little world. A world filled with bright coloured dresses and frills that would spread when she would spin.

  


The young child was so lost in her imagination, she didn’t realize that a few men came to move the holed board she had been hiding behind. The music continued to play as the other dancers stopped, catching sight of her, following their usual routine. When the climax hit and she finished spinning slowly before kneeling.

  


The sound of clapping startled her out of her focused state. Turning she saw all the people on hand smiling and clapping for her. Her pale face flushed as red as her eyes looked down at her ruddy bandaged feet. Her body began to shake from the mounting embarrassment of not only being caught but mostly from her raggedy appearance. These people were so clean looking and wore such pretty clothes, while she wore a frayed and patched up brown dress.

  


“Oh, we simply must take you home!”

“You’ll make a wonderful addition!”

“Such talent for your age!”

  


She quickly became crowded by the dancers as they sang her so many praises. One dancer had softly picked up her red hair gushing over its colour. While another worried over her bandaged feet. It wasn’t until one took her face in their hands and inspected her up close. The young girl quickly recognized the person as the lead dancer. A wide playful smile filled the beautiful woman’s face. 

  


“Oh my, You’ll be quite the heartbreaker when your older won’t you?” Her voice was smooth and pleasant. She and the other dancers continued to fawn over the young girl for some time until the director of the troupe came by, wondering why they had stopped their practice early. His eyes lit up seeing the small girl, aa small smile coming to his face as he watched them.

  


“Miss Reina, am I correct in assuming that we’ll be getting a new addition to our family?” The woman smiled brightly at him and nodded. He looked at the young girl, bending down to be slightly at eye-level with her and spoke, “Do you want to be a dancer Little Miss?” Her yellow eyes widened at him and before she could stop herself, she was nodding her head as fast as she could.

  


Her nodding stopped short however when the image of her brother and his friend passed through her head. They wouldn’t want her to leave, but would they take her brother and his friend too? The director must have seen the downcast look on her face and gave her a smile, before talking to her once more. “We'll ask your parents if we can scout you.” He earned a meek nod.

  


“All right show me the way.”


	2. Farewell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: Implied Sexual abuse, Child abuse, Alcohol.

Too shy to decline, the young girl found herself leading the man and the lead dancer to her home. The further she lead them into the slums, the more the man and woman would frown deeper. It wasn’t till she stopped in front of a run-down shack that she called her home did they look deeply uncomfortable. A large grime-covered man stalked out the shack with a vicious growl, his yellow eyes on the small girl. Her body began to shake from terror seeing him, clutching the older woman’s hand. 

  


“Where the hell have you been you rotten brat?!” His slurring deep voice caused her to jump and her eyes widening as he made his way to her. An animalistic sneer overcame his face at the child’s reaction to him. “And where’s that shrimpy whelp you call a twin?? With that shitty little urchin ain’t he?”

  


At the mention of her brother and their friend, a bit of confidence made her speak up. “Don’t call Kil-kin that... it’s not nice.” His voice came out stronger than she expected. Anger flared in the man’s eyes at her words. He lifted his hand to strike her. Clenching her eyes tight, she waited for the pain to come. When nothing happened she cracked one eye open, only to open both eyes in shock. 

  


The man that had come with her was holding back her father’s fist effortlessly. The brutish red-haired man glared fiercely at the much smaller man holding him back. He struggled to get out of his grip, but he found himself unable to shake him off.

  


“Let go of me!”

  


He was met with an emotionless expression and cold eyes. With the flick of his wrist, he flipped her father over and onto his back. Staring down at the hulking man on the floor with disinterest. 

  


“We came here with a proposition for you about the girl. Would you like to hear us out?” 

  


His yellow eyes lost their inebriated dullness, becoming sharper the more h sobered from the shock of being overtaken. He slowly got up with a grunt, before tilting his head towards the shack. He wobbled a bit before straightening out again and walking in. The dancer’s hand sat on the girl’s shoulder, gently guiding her to the shack. 

  


The inside of her home was worse than the outside. There was only one bed, which her father slept. Normally, however, he was passed out on the rugged table in the only chair. A ratty mat in the corner where she and her brother would sleep and huddle for warmth on the days they would return home. Her father sat in the chair, leaning back so two of its legs were in the air.

  


Lighting a cheap cigarette, he took a long drag and scowled at the two guests. He plucked a half-filled bottle off the table and took a swig before letting the smoke out his nose. “Four-fifty... Thousand. Ain’t going no lower.” He gruffly spoke, eyeing the man in front of him.

  


An unpleasant heat spread up the back of her neck. Even though she was barely six, she was smart enough to know what was now unfortunately happening. Her own father was selling her off, not caring to ask just what they planned to do to her. Dread filled her being, suddenly she didn’t want to go with these people, something in the back of her head was warning her.

  


“That’s quite a steep price, not even curious as to what our business is?”

  


Her father’s eyes turned cold as he fixed his gaze on his daughter. A sneer lit his face when she started to shake from his gaze. “Women only got two uses, better start to teaching her that early.”

  


The grip on her shoulder grew tight, the older woman’s nails digging into the young girl’s skin sharply. A rage-filled glare shooting straight into the drunk’s direction, she was doing everything in her power to not speak to the man and let the director handle everything.

  


The director shook off his words before speaking. “450,000 belli it is. I’ll get someone to bring it right away. Good day to you, Sir.” He ushered them out the shack, his lead seething in rage and the girl with her head down.

  


“Vik? Who are those guys?”

  


“Victoria!”

  


The voices of her brother and their friend, Killer, reached her ears, snapping her head up to see them. Tear’s filled her eyes when she tried to rush towards the two, only to be held back by the woman. Her spiky-haired twin glared at the woman, while Killer frowned since his bangs covered his eyes. 

  


“Let go of my sister, you hag!”

  


The director, swiftly lifted his arm and backhanded her brother, knocking him away and into their friend. Terror filled her, she didn’t want them to harm her brother. “Kid, Kil-kin, it’s okay. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine, I promise!” She gave him her best smile, though large tears fell from her eyes as she looked at the two of them.

  


Her brother was too stubborn, and that feeling of her’s came back when the director struck him. The man was too dangerous. She looked to Killer, hoping he could see it too or at least understand the look in her eyes. His frowned deepened, but he nodded slightly to her and held Kid back from attacking the man. She bit her lip as they walked passed them, trying to keep strong. She made eye contact with her brother hoping he could understand her thoughts within the gaze.

  


_Don’t worry about me. I know we’ll meet again someday._

_Please just survive until then._


	3. Dreams Do Come True

After watching his sister walk off with two unknown adults he rushed into his home, glaring angrily at his father. The man had not moved from his position after the conversation from earlier. His glazed eyes moved over to Kid lazily and took a drag from his smoke. “Whaddya want you shit?” 

  


The boy saw red and rushed at him in a rage. He managing to catch the older man off guard, landing his small fist against his face and knocking the man off the chair. Kid’s body was shaking in barely controlled rage, his chest heaving from him trying to control it. Gritting his teeth, he punched and kicked at the fallen man with all his strength, not noticing Killer had joined in attack the drunk on the ground.

  


“What did you do!? Where the hell are they taking her you damn drunk!” He screamed at the dazed man. His eyes pooled with tears, but he refused to let them fall, he needed to stay strong for her sake. 

  


His father rushed up, grabbing both boys by their hair, smashing them into the floor, and keeping pressure on their heads. Angry and drunken snarls left him, lifting up both boys and slamming them back down against the floor again. He picked them up again, staggering to his feet and throwing the two of them at the wall. 

  


“She’s gone to do her part as a woman and made me some money. Guess I can’t say the same for you. With that worthless pirate king dream of yours.” He laughed, mocking their ludicrous dream. Anger filled the town of them and they rushed at him in anger, how dare he mock their dream! He swiftly knocked them back into the opposite wall.

  


“Worthless, good for nothing shits!”

The man glared down at the two kids before walking up to his son and giving a swift, hard kick into his stomach. Bile rose up Kid’s throat, forcing him to throw up. His father’s eyes turned over to Killer and a twisted grin filled his face.

  


His boot-clad foot set itself on the blond-banged boy’s upper arm and pressed his weight on it. Killer refused to make a sound, making the man irritated and making him put more pressure on the fragile limb until he cried out in pain. He continued to slowly press harder, waiting for the sickening crack of the boy’s arm as Killer continued to whimper and cry out.

  


A loud cracked reverberated off the walls of the shack, though it wasn’t Killer’s arm. 

  


Kid’s father fell to the side, a large gash in the back of his head. Kid stood behind his father, a broken bottle of rum in his small hands. He was panting and looked over at his friend with a weak grin. “You alright Killer?”

  


————

  


Victoria had been taken to a large black and red ship and given a small room to herself. She noticed there were other children her age, yet they all shared a large room together. Was it cause she was too dirty? She noticed the other children giggled at the sight of her. It hurt being laughed at, even though she had grown used to it when people heard Kid and Killer’s dream. A small smile came t her face thinking about her sibling.

  


The small cabin she had been given didn’t have a porthole to look out of, so she sat quietly staring at the wall. There was a small knock at her door before Reina came in holding a change of clothes her size. 

  


“I brought you some clothes Victoria.” She smiled kindly at her new charge. She bent down, looking gently in her eyes and rubbing her head. “For the next two weeks I’ll be very hard on you, but if you do well I’ll give you something very special.”

  


Victoria looked away and nodded, still missing her brother and Killer still. “W-Will I get to see my brother and Kil-Kin again?” Her voice was soft from crying earlier of leaving without getting to really say goodbye. The emotion left Reina’s eyes as she looked at the girl. 

  


“Never, unless you become the perfect dancer.” There was an aura that Reina was exuding filled thee young girl with apprehension. The woman’s eyes sharpened, her next words sending a chill down the girl’s spine.

  


  


“After all you belong to us now.”

  


  


This wasn’t a dream come true, this was beginning to become a living nightmare!


	4. Practice

Weeks had passed and true to her word, Reina was hard on Victoria. She gave the young dancer harsh critiques, refusing her food if she didn’t get every movement perfect. If she placed a limb just a bit off from perfect form a leather crop would smack the offending limb. If she dropped character and messed up she would be forced to redo the entire routine she was learning. 

  


She would dance continuously, not allowed to stop. Her bleeding feet were ignored for the most part, unless her legs were unable to keep her up. When that would happen, two stagehands would give her an ice bath before sending her back to practice. This process would go one from early in the morning to late at night. The hope of seeing her brother again remained fresh in her mind, if she did what Reina said.

  


A loud crack reverberated through the theatre hall, another sharp pain worked its way up her arm. She had let her arm drop slightly lower than it should. A warm and happy-looking smile stayed on her face throughout the entire, even as tears began to fall. She wanted to run to the nearest person to cry and scream that it wasn’t fair she had to go feel so much pain.

  


Her mentor retained a hard, impassive mask, not caring for the girl’s tears or the pain she had been going through. She motioned for a stagehand, keeping her eyes on Victoria. “Get me some chakrams.” In a matter of seconds, they brought out two pairs of the circled blades.

  


“Stop your dancing Child, you’ll be learning something new.” The weapons were placed on her hands as soon as she walked up to Reina. The older woman fixed Victoria’s grip in the items so she was holding them properly. “As a dancer, you are the envy of all women. And more importantly, always sought after by men. For these reasons, you must become like a dangerous flower.” 

  


She walked to the middle of the stage, beckoning Victoria to mimic her movement. Quickly she took off, twirling and slashing the blades in her hands before throwing them out towards the empty audience seating. The woman spun into a backflip before twisting sharply and catching the returning weapons with ease.

  


“Beautiful to look at and admire, but deadly to those that wish to tarnish that beauty. Make like the higanbana with its poison, a rose with its thorns or the nightshade with both thorns and poison. Truly, dear child, it matters not which flower you choose to be. As long as you’re able to protect yourself.”

  


The two twirled and twisted with the chakrams, Victoria copying the movements of her mentor exactly. Reina continued to speak, telling her how to throw the chakrams and giving her tips on when to catch them. The two continued this for hours, Reina doing more complex movements and techniques. 

  


Unlike her earlier harsh teaching ways, she would gently encourage her and give soft praises every now and again. The woman obviously loved dancing with the chakrams, and Victoria was starting to like them too.

  


Soon it was time for their practice to end, yet unlike the last few weeks, Victoria felt more accomplished after. She was happy to see a different side of Reina compared to the last few weeks and she honestly preferred her like this than her usual harsh training. 

  


The two quietly walked through the halls towards the young girl’s room. Once inside Reina spoke.

  


“You’ve been keeping up so well lately, there’s almost no error in your dances. I may have to give you my gift earlier than I expected. Goodnight Child.”

  


“Goodnight Miss Reina, could we dance with the circles again next time?”

  


The woman stopped, catching sight of the bright and hopeful gaze of her charge. A kind smile spread across her face. “If you do even better tomorrow We will.”

  


A large grin made its way to Victoria’s face. Quickly, she nodded and scrambled into her bed, bidding the woman goodnight once more and letting sleep take her.


	5. Her Gift

It had been quite a few years since Victoria was taken from the southern island she once called home. She had trained and practice so much so that the initial reason she worked so hard for was almost completely lost to her. To see a brother? Oh yes, she had one of those. The drive to see him again had dwindled however, as long as she had Reina, she was fine. 

  


It was her tenth birthday and excitement filled her small body. She knew that everything would be different after tonight because tonight was also the night she made her first public debut. If she did everything perfectly, Reina promised to give her the gift that she had been speaking of for years. Questions filled her head at what it could be.

  


_**Was it a really pretty dress that matched hers?** _

_**A pair of chakrams all for herself?** _

_**Maybe a visit to see her brother?** _

  


The last thought bubbled up randomly, startling her. She hadn’t thought of her brother in a very long time. Thinking of her life before the troupe had become a very rare occurrence only happening on the worst of her days. The stress from her upcoming debut is probably what spurred it on, nothing more. 

  


Anxiety welled up in her chest like a bubble on the cusp of popping. She sat in from of a large mirror as some of the support workers fixed her red hair. She had never had so many people buzzing about her at once, and there were more to come. With so many people she missed Reina coming in with a medium box in her hands and a small smile on her face. It wasn’t until everyone else left the room did Victoria notice her mentor.

  


“Miss Reina!” She exclaimed with a large smile. The sight of her mentor had taken away some of her unease and anxiety. Her elation to seeing Reina trumped over the strange air hanging around the woman. She quickly made her way to the woman.

  


“Is that the gift you were telling me about?” The smile on the woman’s face grew wider. She opened the box, placing its contents in the girl’s hands gingerly. A large fruit with white spikes fading into deep pink and purple splotches. Victoria had never seen anything like it before in her life, it looked so pretty.

  


“I couldn’t wait till after the show Child, you have done so well over the years you’ve been under my tutelage. Now eat the special fruit I have saved just for you.” The woman quickly pushed the fruit into the girl’s mouth, forcing her to eat it. The taste of rotten fish filled her mouth mixed with rancid meat. Victoria could feel herself gagging fro thee taste alone.

  


Every part of her wanted to spit it out, however, her mentor held her mouth shut and pinched her nose forcing her to swallow the disgusting fruit. She heaved air into her lungs the moment Reina let her go. Minutes passed before her body felt strange and she was breathing heavily for an entirely different reason.

  


“Miss Reina I feel weird...” she spoke before collapsing to the ground.

  


She felt woozy and nauseous while her body was overcome with pins and needles running up and down it. It felt as if she were feeling every physical ailment form different emotions all at once! There were nervous butterflies in her stomach, anxiety tightening her chest, and heat running up the back of her neck in panic to name a few. Her body was soon convulsing, while a strange warping and stretching sensation exuded from her back. 

  


A new sensation became more prominent then all the others she had been feeling, a dull pulsing pain emanated from her tail bone. It felt like something was pushing its way out, and when a thud reached her ears. She looked to where the sound had come from seeing a scaled black, bladed tail thumping itself against the wood floor. Her eyes followed its length to where she had been hurting before.

  


The pain in her upper back grew harsher, though a flushed heat flooded her system balancing it out before the steering pain of something ripping itself out from her shoulders cause her to start crying out. All the while her mentor watched on, her once warm smile now turning malicious as she gazed down at the girl looking up at her with pleading eyes.

  


_Kid, I wish you were here... I need help.._


	6. Your Own Skin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE BE ADVISED THERE IS GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE BELOW

A groan escaped Victoria as she tried to get up, however, her skin stuck to the ground as she pushed herself up. She blinked away the bleariness, trying to make sense of what happened and why she was sticky and stiff. Her yellow eyes looked at the ruddy film caked on her body. It was stiff and pulled at her skin when she flexed her fingers, it wasn’t until the smell hit her nose that she grew sick. 

  


**Metallic.**

  


Bile rose to her throat as she recognized the smell of blood. Looking around her, she found herself in the center of the stage that she was originally going to debut on. However, the hardwood had been covered in blood and floral bouquets. The bile that had risen itself in her throat full expelled itself when she saw the audience, or what was left of them.

  


She stared in horror at the scene before her. There were body parts strewn across the aisles and walkways, heads were mounted upon the balcony banisters, and some bodies were hung from various places in the ceiling still dripping thick blood. The blood of those that were still in their seats had oozed out and flowed down the walkways, pooling into the orchestra pit. The amount of blood and viscera that was pooled within the pit made it difficult to tell if the musicians were in there.

  


Tears filled her terror-struck eyes as she stared at every gory scene. She couldn’t remember how she got here. Trying to remember what she did last caused a splitting headache that made her nearly cry out.

  


“Now now Child, it’s best if you don’t try to think. It’ll just hurt you more if you try to remember.” 

  


The sound of Reina’s voice immediately caught her attention. Victoria looked up at the woman in shock. 

  


_Miss Reina, I feel weird..._

_  
_

_Miss Reina help me..._

  


Finally, a memory surfaced as to what happened before she had blacked out. Reina had shoved a weird fruit into her mouth and forced her to eat it... but why? She must have said it out loud when the woman spoke with a crazed sneer.

  


“Why?! You want to know why? Simple you sniveling brat, I needed someone I could manipulate to eat the Muma fruit. And what better person than one I could mold and work on for years.” She cackled madly, before walking elegantly towards the child.

  


“Don’t you see all this death around us? You did this, all because I needed you too.” She looked over at the audience's seats in disgust. She looked back over to the girl, an unhinged and cold smile spreading across her face. 

  


“Every single night I would wait. I would just wait for you to fall asleep and then I would work on you with my dream fruit.” She pulled the girl up, not seeming to care in the slightest about the dried blood covering her. “You have no idea how agonizing it was for me waiting all these years till I could put my plan into action. I had to start slowly since you cared SO much for your brother and his friend.” A sigh left Reina as the woman reminisced about it.

  


“I had to push back all those thoughts of seeing them again, and a few other things here and there. Oh, and of course I needed to plant a trigger phrase.” The woman cackled once more, letting the girl go as she went to hold her stomach from her laughter. 

  


Memories filled Victoria’s head of what Reina had made her do. The bladed tail she had grown slicing and carving through screaming people. Her flying in the air only to div with that same tail and skewer more people. Some she punctured so deeply into the ceiling they stayed there. 

  


The young girl quickly stumbled away from her crazed mentor and threw up once more as the sounds from the memories caught up with her. Her stomach continued to purge its contents until she was stuck dry heaving.

  


“If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have been able to get my revenge on those disgusting marines and their despicable dragons,” Reina said, her tone now completely serious and cold instead of unhinged. Her eyes had narrowed at Victoria, walking towards the terrified girl slowly. 

  


For each step the woman took, young Victoria took two steps back until she tripped and fell. Reina went back to a warm smile as she followed after the girl, cooing gently to the scared child. “Come here, Child. Let me end all your pain.”

  


Nothing the woman said made sense anymore! Victoria knew that if she didn’t get away now Reina would surely kill her, but what could she use? She didn’t know the first thing bout controlling whatever weird abilities she had now. 

  


Her mind was racing, while her breathing became shallow. The anxiety that filled her only grew worse the moment Reina’s hands wrapped themselves around her throat. Pressure slowly filled Victoria’s head as pain shot up through her throat. she could hear her pounding heart in her ears even more loudly than before. Black edges filled her vision as she tried a last desperate attempt to get the woman to stop by slapping her hands at her neck.

  


It wasn’t until she felt that uncomfortable shifting in her tailbone and squelching crunch did air return back to her. A dull thud echoed in front of her as Victoria coughed and gasped, breathing in as much air as she could. Her moment of terror wasn’t over, however, as she heard Reina’s strangled voice croak out.

  


“Become as Nightshade.”

  


At Reina’s last words, The young girl felt numbness overcome her body, and a pulse radiated from her chest. She lost all control over her actions as she felt her bod stand itself up and start dancing. There were shouts and shocked screams as people from the troupe rushed into the theatre. 

  


Bat-like wings burst from her back as her body killed those that dared interrupt its dance. 

  


Tears fell from her eyes as she realized that she had become a prisoner in her own body and more people lay dead beneath her. 

  


What could she do?


	7. Feeling Hope

**How long had it been since she could control her body?  
How many years had passed?**

She had no idea. She couldn’t remember.

Victoria had become a prisoner in her own body since Reina’s death, only able to watch helplessly as it continued to kill. It didn’t matter if they were threatening or completely innocent. This continued until one day, it came to a point where one day she just snapped. While she had burn twirling with her bladed tail slicing through marines. She had broken into a laugh as her tail sliced and cut down each man. It was the only other thing she could do other than cry. 

She didn’t know how long ago that was, she had stopped counting the time. Even in sleep, her body continued its deadly dance, not once stopping even when pain filled her body, nor even when an unfortunate victim layed dead at her feet. She continued to laugh at everything she killed, her entire being filled with hopelessness.

Over the time she had been stuck dancing on the abandoned stage, fewer people came. She was happy that she didn’t have to kill anyone, but it also took away her hope that someone would save her from this. A flurry of painful thoughts filled her head. This started because she snuck away to watch those dancers. 

_I’m completely useless._

_I was stupid to think that it was better to be a dancer. I should have just followed Kid and Killer to the junkyard._

_This is all my fault._

The thoughts continued until she let herself go to sleep, unaware of the new guests that had made their way onto the ship.

————

Victoria woke with a hiss as she felt a sharp pain in her side. Out of reflex, her hands went to lightly touch the area only to freeze and shake. Her eyes flew open as she looked down at her body. It had been covered by a long black cape, however, that was secondary to the sight of herself not dancing and sitting on the floor. 

_I can move... I can finally move!_

Movement around her caught her attention, making her look up. She was surrounded by a number of men, the one closest to her with a sword pointed at her neck. She followed the sword up to the man’s face, yellow eyes making contact with his serious black ones.

As she gazed at him, her eyes traced over the scars on his left eye. Her chin began to quiver as she realized this man was the one that had freed her. It wasn’t long before tears had filled her eyes and blurred her vision. The scarred man and the men around them quickly grew shocked when she tried to speak.

“T-Thank... you!” She croaked out, not used to speaking for so long. More tears fell as she began to sob in happiness. She continued to thank the red-haired man in front of her between hiccups and sobs. She shakily got to her feet, putting the men back on edge as she lunged for the man in front of her. Before they could rush to him, his loud laugh gave them pause. They watched as Victoria hugged him tightly. 

Her laugh soon joined with his as she laughed through her tears. Her nightmare was finally over, she was free!

He sheathed his sword and pat her head as she slowly stopped crying. It wasn’t until she had stopped that she realized she was almost naked without the cloak that had been placed on her. She held the item closer to her after she had pulled away from the man.

“I’ve heard the rumor that everyone aboard the Costa Soleil had been killed by a horrendous she-devil. I didn’t think it’d be a young teenager. So, fill me in!” He smiled kindly at her while leading her out of the theatre. It was amazing how the stench of death left them the moment they had exited. She looked back over her shoulder and passed the men following at the doors that she had once wished to perform on the other side. 

As they walked she told him everything that had happened, from the beginning of when she was on the island she had once called home to now. The man next to her nodded along, his face going back to being serious when she spoke of what Reina had done to her and forced her to do. She had finished telling him what had happened by the time they made it to a different ship. 

Her eyes hurt from being inside the troupe ship for so long, and she wasn’t used to the sunlight anymore.

He helped her across the gangplank, taking notice of how sluggish she was getting. If she really had been dancing all these years her body was in need of rest. Despite all this, she continued to try and ignore her body’s need for rest. The men behind them quickly dispersed to get the ship ready to sail. 

A tall man with long, greying hair pulled out a wooden box for her to sit on and rest. By now she had gotten used to the sunlight and she whipped her head around looking at the open ocean. She looked back at her savior, as he sat on another crate across from her. 

“Who are you anyway?” She finally asked him, curiosity getting the better of her. A large grin spread across his features and he belted out a laugh at her questions. The other men grinned and laughed right along with him. 

“The name’s Shanks!”

A smile soon filled her face as well as she gazed at all the other smiling and laughing men. A warm feeling filled her chest before everything went dark around her.

Shanks blinked, staring at the now unconscious teen and let out another laugh. Shaking his head, he went to pick her up and turned to his men. 

“Oi! See if ya can scrounge up some clothes for the kid so she has something to wear when she wakes up!” He ordered lazily and made his way to the infirmary. “Once she wakes up, we’ll decide what to do with her then.”


	8. What’s Been Done

Several days had passed since Victoria had gotten picked up by those men. Most of her time was spent laying down, letting her body get some much needed rest. When she wasn't asleep she spent her time awake listening to stories the men would tell. It brought her joy listening to all the pirate shenanigans they would get up to. 

Thoughts of her brother and Killer filled her head during the most recent story Shanks had told her. She was worried about them, had they managed to follow their dreams? Or worse, was Kid still with their father? 

These things filled her head went Shanks had left her alone to rest. They prevented her from it so far. Propping herself up against the wall, she looked out of the small window and out to the deck. A chuckle escaped her as she watched the men goof off and drink and sing. A warmth filled her as she continued to watch, only to laugh when she watched Shanks trip over a barrel. 

Her laughter sounded off the walls of the infirmary, it was just enough to sneak out of the room and reach the rest of the men. Most looked back to her and laughed, waving at her with merry smiles. She caught Shanks looks at her with a jovial twinkle in his eye, making the warmth in her swell. 

_I like these men._ She thought to herself as she meekly waved back to them and gave the red-haired captain a shy smile. When she was able to move about again she hoped she could stay. Being a pirate couldn’t be any worse than the hell she went through as a dancer. 

Her stomach growled and cut off her thoughts. Turning her eyes over to a small plate of food Shanks had left her, she wiggled her hip to the side and willed her tail to appear. Its dark, bladed tip shimmered dangerously in the light before scooping under the tray. Moving the tray towards herself, she couldn’t help but feel proud of how well she was controlling it. 

It was all thanks to that Muma fruit that Reina had forced her to eat. That was another thing she had started to be worried about, what was that fruit? And how could it give her such strange abilities? Next time Shanks or one of the other men came in she would ask, for now she would reap the benefits of having an elongated limb. 

It was only a few hours she had to wait till Shanks’ first mate, Ben, came to drop off more food. Smiling in thanks she asked her question. 

“Benn, what’s the muma fruit?” The tall, greying man looked her way with a laid back smile. He pulled out one of the chairs and placed it next to her bedside. He sat there in a moment of silence, before speaking.

“That would be the Batto Batto no Mi Model: Succubus, or the Muma fruit in Wano. It’s a mythical Zoan type, one the many devil fruits people would kill for.” He took a drag of his cigarette, watching her use her tail to hold the tray slightly above her lap.

“You’re more than aware of what physical attributes you have, but you’re probably not familiar with what else you can do.” He chuckled when she tried to speak with her cheeks full of bread.

“Whapf elfsh canph ee du?

“Well, you can drain the life from members of the opposite gender instead of eating food, it heals you too. It slows how fast you age just not by much, but it does give you a pretty good power boost depending on who you’ve drained.” He let out a good-natured chuckle and looked at her.

“That boost is probably what helped you land a few good hits when Red fought you. With enough training, you can hypnotize weaker willed people, though it’ll be more effective on people attracted to you.” Benn shrugged and pulled a bottle of rum from his hip, drinking it lazily. She finished her food and used her tail to set the tray on the table. 

“Okay, so what’s a devil fruit?” She turned her body towards him and sat on her legs, giving him her undivided attention.

“Mysterious fruits of the sea stolen from the devil himself! When eaten they grant powers but at a great cost!”

The voice that had answered her question was not Benn’s, instead, it was Shanks using a goofy ghost voice. Victoria turned her head to give the older man an incredulous look, her face scrunching up and mouth partly open. The overall expression was quick to make him fall to the ground laughing and Benn to chortle.

The bedridden teenager looked down at the silly man that saved her and sighed with a smile. 

“So what’s the cost?” Her question was simple and curious. If magically stuff like these fruits did exist and give amazing powers, the cost must be a great one. She felt dread creep up the back of her neck as she waited for him to answer.

“Oh, you’re no longer able to swim!” She could only blink, was that really the downside to eating one of those fruits? That didn’t seem steep at all, especially since the one she ate gave her wings. 

“I guess that’s not too bad. I never knew how to swim in the first place.” Her comment set the two men off once more, with her soon joining in their moment of laughter. The three of them were soon joined by the rest of the crew forcing their way in, seeing what was causing the laughter. The rest of them soon began to laugh, joining in as well, even though they had no idea why it was happening. 

Victoria was the first to calm down and smiled widely at the other redhead as he laughed.

“Shanks, thank you, seriously.”

The rest of the crew’s laughter had died down and now most were looking between the captain and her. Shanks looked over at her with a small smile and nodded. 

“Don’t worry about it, I just wanted to see the Dancing Demon. I just didn’t expect it to be some fifteen-year-old kid.”

Almost all the crew had piled out, going back onto the main deck to finish drinking. Only Yasopp and Benn were left other than Shanks. She looked down at her lap, a small frown coming to her lips at the title. It wasn’t long till a broken chuckle escaped her.

“It’s funny, I thought when Miss Reina recruited me I’d become a famous dancer. Just not this kind.” Victoria looked at her hands and for a split second, she swore they were covered in blood. When she blinked, however, they were back to normal. Tears slowly started to pool in her eyes. The remaining men looked darkly at the ground as she continued.

“I had to give up everything. My brother, our friend, and us being pirates together all for what? I was just turned into a weapon for Miss Reina’s need for revenge.” She couldn’t stop the tears that had begun, sobs wracking her body. Sniffing loudly, she tried to wipe the tears away as they fell. 

“Fairy tales don’t exist.”

Tense air hung in the infirmary as the three men watch the teenager cry. They knew it was a matter of time before she thought about everything. They were just waiting for when. Now she needed to decide on what to do.

“Then make them exist.” 


	9. First Fight

“What?”

  


“Then make them exist.”

  


Shanks gave her the most serious look she had ever seen. Gone was his lazy and jovial smile, replaced with a small frown. He held her gaze and waited for her to understand his words.

  


“If it bothers you that much then make them exist. You’re free to do whatever you want.”

His smile slowly came back as he looked at her. He got up at rubbed her head with a grin. A small smile broke through her teary expression, bending her head slightly as he continued to muss her hair with his rubbing. A soft giggle came from her as he continued.

  


“You made a bad decision sure, but you were a kid and still are. All your life you’ll make choices like that. Now you just have to live with it and move on.”

  


It was Yasopp’s turn to speak, giving her a fatherly grin that warmed her heart. Ben looked over to her lazily and chuckled seeing her in a fit of giggles.

  


“So what do you wanna do kid?”

  


The head rubbing had stopped, Shanks backing away so she could see all three men looking at her. Victoria bit her lip and looked down, thinking about what it was she wanted to do. If her brother was still on their home island, she would stay there, but if he and Killer left... She looked over the three men once more.

  


“If it’d be possible, I’d like to see if my family is still around.”

  


“And if they aren’t?”

  


“Then I’ll become a pirate and join your crew.”

  


That got all three men to burst out laughing once more. Yasopp pounded his chest, Shanks slapping his knee and Benn held his head in his hands. They thought she was joking until they looked up and saw her serious face, which made them laugh even harder.

  


“And say if we set sail as soon as we drop you off at port?” Yasopp managed to force out as tears fell from his eyes. The other two nodding along with him, trying to contain their laughter to hear her answer.

  


“Even with a dingy you wouldn’t be able to catch up, and you can’t swim either.”

  


“Well, it's a good thing I can fly then.”

  


Both Shanks and Yasopp tuned their head to Benn for confirmation. With a smile, he nodded to the two of them and shrugged.

  


“She’s got us there, if they’re not there we might as well roll with it. She did give you a good run for your money last time, Red.“

  


The redhead captain could only sigh and nodded.

  


“If they aren’t there sure, but you’ll have to fly to catch us.”

  


His reasoning made her laugh, she could tell he was doing it more for his own amusement than some kind of initiation into his crew. Victoria also didn’t give him a choice in her joining. The fact he was willing to have her on shocked her in all honesty.

  


Before long the ship was sailing towards her home island, according to Shanks they would reach the island in about a month.

  


———————

  


The days had gone by slowly, mostly for Victoria still being stuck in the infirmary. However, today she could no longer take it, her legs were restless. She wanted to move. Victoria was quick to pick herself up and out of the bed she was confined in, shakily getting to her feet. The cool wood at first sent a shiver up her back, but it quickly became pleasant to have something solid beneath her. 

  


She let her tail come free, it helped her balance better.

  


Walking out the door of the infirmary, she scrunched her face a bit from the brightness of the outside. It wasn’t too bad, considering she had been staring out the window, but there was a need for her eyes to adjust to the new light. She paused after stepping out onto the deck, the men that had taken her in were engaged with another group of pirates. 

  


One of the opposing pirates came flying at her, his weapon drawn and ready to skewer her. He never got the chance however when her tail reacted and caught him tightly by the neck. SHe brought his now terrified face towards hers and gazed at him curiously. 

  


“Hello there, You’re a new face. It's obvious you're not apart of Shanks’ crew.”

  


Her captive opened and closed his mouth like a fish gasping for water. She waited for him to say anything only to get tired of waiting. She looked around, trying to find the red-haired captain, and found him locked in a duel of sorts. She assumed it was with the other captain. Gracefully, she weaved through the fighting men, the previous pirate still in her grasp, until she was next to Shanks.

  


“I’m sorry Shanks, I couldn’t stand being in the infirmary any longer. I hope you don't mind if I join the fight. I could use the exercise.”

  


Without missing a beat, the scarred man laughed merrily and nodded, giving her a joking bow.

  


“Why of course! Seems like a good time as any to get some.”

  


She moved out of the way of his enemy’s swing and slammed her captive into his captain. 

  


“Thank you. Excuse me, Mr. Captain, I hope you enjoy my dance!”

  


She received an incredulous look from the enemy pirates around her. Did she really have the balls to dance amid battle? The man through his crewmember off himself, clambering to his feet angrily and pointing his sword at Victoria with red-faced rage. 

  


“Whoever heard of a whore dancing to fight!? The only thing you should be dancing on is around mah co- ghagk!“

  


The top of her foot struck him harshly, sending him flying back. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the deep-set frown in some of the crew’s faces from his words, however, it didn’t bother her any, considering she had bits and pieces of memories of her father saying much worse about her mother and other women. 

  


The man flopped and bounced across the deck, skidding to a halt just before he hit the wooden rails of his ship. There was a moment of stunned shock from his lackeys before they jumped into the fray against the rest of them. 

  


“Oi, Toria-chan! No killing if it can be avoided and maim if necessary, alright!?” She heard Lucky call out to her with a renewed grin. She had taken off running towards three men. Jumping within range, she wrapped her legs around the neck of the one in the middle and used the momentum to twist around and fling her leg to the side. Making contact with the second man as the third received an unforgiving elbow to his nose.

  


She had successfully knocked out on and dazed the other, leaving the man she had used as her anchor. Victoria bent herself back, gripping his shoulder and lifting her body only to arch herself back into him, her feet making contact with his stomach. 

  


She flipped once in the air and landed gracefully with a flourishing salute to Lucky.

  


“Aye Aye Lucky!” She gave him a large beaming smile earning a round of laughter from the rest of the men before joining back into the fight. A thrill of excitement going through her as she weaved in and out of the fighting men, picking off stragglers with the fluid dancing moves Reina had taught her.

  


An elated feeling she hadn’t felt since she was a child had swelled within her chest as she took down pirate after pirate. That same feeling of happiness she had when she first started to dance had returned, and with it, a carefree lightness and she hoped she would continue to feel it.


End file.
